Forget the classics, these predictable, sweet and surprisingly funny movies are the ones we think you should watch over Christmas 2024
From the new releases offering former teen stars a return to grace, to the ‘so bad, they’re good’ festive hits you heard about but never actually watched, Netflix knows what we want from our Christmas movies.
The streaming platform is positively churning out the feel-good vibes right now and if you haven’t got aboard the Cheesy Express yet, now’s the time to grab your seat.
Here’s a solid beginner’s platter to the Christmas classics of the future!*
Our Little Secret
She made her big comeback in 2022’s Falling for Christmas and now Lindsay Lohan is back with yet another holiday flick! Could this be her new genre? We’re here for it if it is because this one looks like it might actually be kind of good! She comes to her boyfriend’s house for the holidays only to discover that his sister is dating her ex-fiancé. Classic. It’s out on 27 November and we’ve got the popcorn on standby.
The Merry Gentlemen
Whoever came up with the idea of ‘Magic Mike Saves Christmas’ deserves a raise. The plot (if you care) centres around a former big-city dancer’s attempt to save her parents performing venue by hosting an all-male, Christmas-themed revue. It stars Britt Robertson, Chad Michael Murray’s abs, the dad from Family Ties and one of the aunts from Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.
The Holidate
A ‘holidate’ aka. a date just for the holidays – no commitments – is the perfect start to any Christmas movie and this one actually spans several holidays setting it apart from other festive offerings. Chock full of predictable situations and cheesy dilemmas, this has a cast of fun and familiar faces including Emma Roberts, Kristen Chenoweth, Frances Fisher and Alex Moffat, and is a very enjoyable way to spend an evening!
Single all the Way
Funny and flirty, this surprisingly wholesome holiday flick is about two gay best friends who may or may not get together by the end. Ooh, the suspense! Lol. No, to be fair, it has a cracking cast of semi-familiar faces including Kathy Najimy, Michael Urie and Barry Bostwick and is worth watching for Jennifer Coolidge alone!
A Christmas Prince
We couldn’t have a Netflix festive film roundup without mentioning the one that really kickstarted the trend in earnest. A Christmas Prince has everything you would expect from a cheesy holiday movie – an ambitious but secretly conventional heroine, a misunderstood leading man, a case of mistaken identity, a classic ‘makeover’, a ball and two tooth-achingly sweet sequels – The Royal Wedding and A Royal Baby. Did someone order the festive cheeseboard?
The Princess Switch
A Christmas Prince but with a side of The Prince and the Pauper. What’s not to love? See also the sequel and threequel to this surprise hit – Switched Again and Romancing the Star. Will these movies be atrociously predictable and saccharine? Yes. Will I love every minute of them? Yes.
Holiday in the Wild
Even if you wanted to hate this, you couldn’t. Rob Lowe and Kristin Davis star as two ridiculously good-looking, somehow single, middle-aged people who bond over their desire to save a baby elephant whose mother has been killed in the wild. What follows is Christmas in Africa where the spoiled New Yorker learns about the true meaning of the holidays and Rob Lowe proves that he’s definitely still got it in an entirely unnecessary but tasteful shirtless scene.
*It is highly unlikely that any of these will become future Christmas classics but we love them anyway!
